US Signed & Captured German WWII NSDAP Banner
Up for sale is a very nice and original US Signed & Captured German WWII NSDAP Banner. Interestingly this flag was captured by a US WWII Anti Tank Platoon in March of 1945. The flag is extremely large and spans over 9 fth in length. This flag includes some research on the men who signed it, as well as some period photographs of them, and written provenance behind where the flag came.
Approximate Size :
Width - 110 inches
Height - 44.5 inches
German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany
It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. It was fairly quiet the rest of the night and we ate cookies and drank snaps while trying to stay alert. The cookies and snaps came from the German Headquarters building located on the corner where our gun was placed. There was a room in the basement just full of all kinds of wine, whiskey, brandy and snaps. By morning the Germans had vacated the center of the city and we moved out of our position and started chasing Germans again. Before leaving the defensive position we occupied all night, two of us cut down the banner flags hanging from the building. The next day I asked all of the men in our platoon, that would sign the flag, to put his name and hometown on the white part of the swastika.
Rethel William Flatt PFC
Anti- tank platoon, gunner
Headquarters Company
First battalion 222 Inf. Regiment
42nd Rainbow Division
February 18, 2014
Up for sale is a very nice and original US Signed & Captured German WWII NSDAP Banner. Interestingly this flag was captured by a US WWII Anti Tank Platoon in March of 1945. The flag is extremely large and spans over 9 fth in length. This flag includes some research on the men who signed it, as well as some period photographs of them, and written provenance behind where the flag came.
Approximate Size :
Width - 110 inches
Height - 44.5 inches
German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany
It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. It was fairly quiet the rest of the night and we ate cookies and drank snaps while trying to stay alert. The cookies and snaps came from the German Headquarters building located on the corner where our gun was placed. There was a room in the basement just full of all kinds of wine, whiskey, brandy and snaps. By morning the Germans had vacated the center of the city and we moved out of our position and started chasing Germans again. Before leaving the defensive position we occupied all night, two of us cut down the banner flags hanging from the building. The next day I asked all of the men in our platoon, that would sign the flag, to put his name and hometown on the white part of the swastika.
Rethel William Flatt PFC
Anti- tank platoon, gunner
Headquarters Company
First battalion 222 Inf. Regiment
42nd Rainbow Division
February 18, 2014
Up for sale is a very nice and original US Signed & Captured German WWII NSDAP Banner. Interestingly this flag was captured by a US WWII Anti Tank Platoon in March of 1945. The flag is extremely large and spans over 9 fth in length. This flag includes some research on the men who signed it, as well as some period photographs of them, and written provenance behind where the flag came.
Approximate Size :
Width - 110 inches
Height - 44.5 inches
German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany
It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. German Headquarters Banner Flag, Wurzburg Germany It was April 3,1945 and after chasing the German Army for the past month, fighting small battles when they needed relief from the constant pursuit, our Regiment, the 222 Infantry of the 42nd Rainbow Division, was relieved and assigned a rest period in a small town about ten miles south of Wurzburg Germany. Sometime around 6:00 pm on the same day our platoon leader told us that the Germans had decided to defend the city of Wurzburg and that our tanks were stalled and wanted infantry to cross the river ahead of them.. When we arrived at the southern side of the Main River the tanks were lined up waiting to cross. They were receiving heavy fire from the buildings on the north side of the river. The buildings were about three stories high and I believe every window contained a machine gun or 20mm cannon. We moved in front of the tanks and were positioning our truck to cross the bridge when the Germans blew it up. Shortly after the bridge was blown, the engineers moved in and proceeded to put down a Bailey Bridge that would allow the tanks to cross. In the meantime, the engineers put our truck and 57mm Anti Tank gun on a raft and we crossed the river under a hail of German Machine gun and anti aircraft 20mm fire. We followed a rifle company that crossed in row boats ahead of us; although they took heavy casualties they cleared out the buildings and forced the Germans to withdraw. The river is about ten feet below the street level and I believe that fact alone allowed us to cross without any of our ten squad members getting hit. I don't know what time it was but it had to be at least midnight when we placed our gun in a defensive position outside the German headquarters building. About two hours later, a German patrol attacked our position with about 10 to 15 soldiers and we repelled them without any casualties. The Germans retreated leaving three dead men in the street in front of our gun position. It was fairly quiet the rest of the night and we ate cookies and drank snaps while trying to stay alert. The cookies and snaps came from the German Headquarters building located on the corner where our gun was placed. There was a room in the basement just full of all kinds of wine, whiskey, brandy and snaps. By morning the Germans had vacated the center of the city and we moved out of our position and started chasing Germans again. Before leaving the defensive position we occupied all night, two of us cut down the banner flags hanging from the building. The next day I asked all of the men in our platoon, that would sign the flag, to put his name and hometown on the white part of the swastika.
Rethel William Flatt PFC
Anti- tank platoon, gunner
Headquarters Company
First battalion 222 Inf. Regiment
42nd Rainbow Division
February 18, 2014